The first seems to have been coming up on these boards quite a lot recently, and annoys me. There are no "dated" perfumes. There are good perfumes and bad perfumes, and reviewers who lack maturity or imagination. On vibe, maybe I'm being a bit unreasonable, but, on the principle that a perfume review should be as precise as possible about a reviewer's impressions, vibe is about as obfuscatory a word as you could get.

I think both of those things can be useful. For example, things such as Rive Gauche PH seems/seems like an 'old man smell' frag to me. Drakkar Noir may seem 'dated' and 'old man smell' to me as well. However, I'm only in my 20's. Different age range(s) can play a huge role, for example because of exposure in different times, such as someone who was a teen in the 70's vs someone who was a teen in the 2000's. Perhaps also including labeling such as contemporary and such would be helpful as well, ie. 1 Million being contemporary/modern.

Vibe can be handy as well, such as Histoires de Parfums' 1725 may have a vibe that is like JPG's Le Male.

Negative thing(s) when it comes to reviews for me is if like someone mentions a frag smelling dated and then a different review mentions that the same frag smells like/just like -insert well known modern frag-

It can leave me wondering whether it smells like more old-school (Azzaro PH for example) or more modern (AdG), as examples.

I think both of those things can be useful. For example, things such as Rive Gauche PH seems/seems like an 'old man smell' frag to me. Drakkar Noir may seem 'dated' and 'old man smell' to me as well. However, I'm only in my 20's. Different age range(s) can play a huge role, for example because of exposure in different times, such as someone who was a teen in the 70's vs someone who was a teen in the 2000's. Perhaps also including labeling such as contemporary and such would be helpful as well, ie. 1 Million being contemporary/modern.

Vibe can be handy as well, such as Histoires de Parfums' 1725 may have a vibe that is like JPG's Le Male.

Negative thing(s) when it comes to reviews for me is if like someone mentions a frag smelling dated and then a different review mentions that the same frag smells like/just like -insert well known modern frag-

It can leave me wondering whether it smells like more old-school (Azzaro PH for example) or more modern (AdG), as examples.

My biggest pet peeve about reviews is when they say "I hate this" "It's garbage" "It smells like swill" and on and on for 20 lines telling me 57 ways they dislike something. Never getting around to saying why. Even if you are no expert, try to describe it. I have actually seen reviews where the entire review consisted of "It sucks"
Even if you are a newbie you can give your impression, like somebody's impression of Creed Royal Water...."Bug Spray!" Now that is descriptive, I know what you are talking about, and yea, I smell the bug spray also... Don't just tell me it's garbage. That tells me nothing except you didn't like it- and why do you think just because you don't like it that I won't either???

Don't agree with the vibe part. I find it quite interesting when someone mentions the emotional atmosphere they get from a scent. May I interpret the smell differently, sure, but it still can be helpful. Relaxed, aggy, beach, military vibe...the vibe can be an important ingredient.

+1 to both Jouho and Possum-Pie "Dated" is definitely a adjective that one can use to describe a fragrance. I think phrasing it as "I think this fragrance is suitable for a much older person" does not help much. In any case, reviewers are entitled to their opinions on a "suitable age group". "Vibe" - as the word implies, can form part of the overall impression, which is the purpose of a review. What I disagree with is the "try" "buy" or "pass" part... let's just stick with impressions and avoid tying it with a decision.

I get suspicious when the reviewer says "synthetic," given how few 100% natural fragrances are for sale. "Synthetic" doesn't give me a decent idea of what the objection actually is to the scent.

"Boring" is another descriptor that doesn't actually describe what the fragrance has to it that the reviewer doesn't like. Is it linear? Jasmin et Cigarettes is linear, but I love it, and don't find "boring" a good descriptor. Is it dominated by a particular note? Aventus with its pineapple doesn't seem "boring" to me, regardless of whether it's my preference (or my opinion on the hype it receives here). However, if either of those factors are what is objectionable to the reviewer, then those are the descriptors that would actually do me some good in forming a better opinion on the scent. "Linear" and "single-note dominant" are useful, objective terms, even if a different reviewer doesn't agree; "boring" doesn't tell me anything.

Description of the various notes and how prominent they are is helpful, as is describing sillage and longevity. Saying what a scent evokes for you is also helpful such as "Campfire" or Sea Air" or Chocolate Chip Cookies" etc since these are smells that most people are familiar with. Saying something like "the cheap smelling yuzu note that rears it's head about an hour in" is way too complex for most "normal" people to even grasp however and I think stuff like that should be avoided unless the target audience consists entirely of hard-core "frag heads". I also totally agree with those that say that using terms such as "this is just garbage" or "this sucks" is not useful at all. Now, using the term "off-putting" is a little more helpful but then again what is off-putting to one person may draw in someone else. Patchouli is an excellent example of a note that evokes both sincere adoration and also disgust. A warning perhaps such as "beware of the heavy patchouli that sets in and remains for the duration in the drydown because if you hate patchouli you won't like this" sounds much better than " the patchouli in the drydown makes me puke" I HIGHLY doubt it makes you "puke"........

Reviews fall flat, in my mind, when they simply list a great deal of notes and the fragrance's progression from start to finish. If one tries the same approach when describing a song, it becomes clear why this doesn't work. Moreover, I've read many such reviews only to read other reviews of the same fragrance with a very different, yet equally detailed, list of notes, indicating the subjectivity of the note breakdown from person to person.

The most effective reviews for me are those that use imagery to convey the overall "vibe" of the scent. For example, some have described L'Air Du Desert Marocain as a stroll through a Moroccan market, passing various spice vendors on your walk, etc. These reviews give me a much better impression of the scent.

They are sometimes 20-30 minutes long per fragrance, spending 10 minutes talking about how pretty the bottle is.....

OR they are ridiculously pretentious. One guy sometimes has his girlfriend dressed up in the background and talks like he just loves to hear the sound of his voice....and another guy often wears a suit/tie in what looks like a bedroom in his parent's basement ; littered with dirty laundry and...well.

The first seems to have been coming up on these boards quite a lot recently, and annoys me. There are no "dated" perfumes. There are good perfumes and bad perfumes, and reviewers who lack maturity or imagination. On vibe, maybe I'm being a bit unreasonable, but, on the principle that a perfume review should be as precise as possible about a reviewer's impressions, vibe is about as obfuscatory a word as you could get.

I think both of those things can be useful. For example, things such as Rive Gauche PH seems/seems like an 'old man smell' frag to me. Drakkar Noir may seem 'dated' and 'old man smell' to me as well. However, I'm only in my 20's. Different age range(s) can play a huge role, for example because of exposure in different times, such as someone who was a teen in the 70's vs someone who was a teen in the 2000's. Perhaps also including labeling such as contemporary and such would be helpful as well, ie. 1 Million being contemporary/modern.

Vibe can be handy as well, such as Histoires de Parfums' 1725 may have a vibe that is like JPG's Le Male.

Negative thing(s) when it comes to reviews for me is if like someone mentions a frag smelling dated and then a different review mentions that the same frag smells like/just like -insert well known modern frag-

It can leave me wondering whether it smells like more old-school (Azzaro PH for example) or more modern (AdG), as examples.

I think both of those things can be useful. For example, things such as Rive Gauche PH seems/seems like an 'old man smell' frag to me. Drakkar Noir may seem 'dated' and 'old man smell' to me as well. However, I'm only in my 20's. Different age range(s) can play a huge role, for example because of exposure in different times, such as someone who was a teen in the 70's vs someone who was a teen in the 2000's. Perhaps also including labeling such as contemporary and such would be helpful as well, ie. 1 Million being contemporary/modern.

Vibe can be handy as well, such as Histoires de Parfums' 1725 may have a vibe that is like JPG's Le Male.

Negative thing(s) when it comes to reviews for me is if like someone mentions a frag smelling dated and then a different review mentions that the same frag smells like/just like -insert well known modern frag-

It can leave me wondering whether it smells like more old-school (Azzaro PH for example) or more modern (AdG), as examples.

My biggest pet peeve about reviews is when they say "I hate this" "It's garbage" "It smells like swill" and on and on for 20 lines telling me 57 ways they dislike something. Never getting around to saying why. Even if you are no expert, try to describe it. I have actually seen reviews where the entire review consisted of "It sucks"
Even if you are a newbie you can give your impression, like somebody's impression of Creed Royal Water...."Bug Spray!" Now that is descriptive, I know what you are talking about, and yea, I smell the bug spray also... Don't just tell me it's garbage. That tells me nothing except you didn't like it- and why do you think just because you don't like it that I won't either???

Don't agree with the vibe part. I find it quite interesting when someone mentions the emotional atmosphere they get from a scent. May I interpret the smell differently, sure, but it still can be helpful. Relaxed, aggy, beach, military vibe...the vibe can be an important ingredient.

+1 to both Jouho and Possum-Pie "Dated" is definitely a adjective that one can use to describe a fragrance. I think phrasing it as "I think this fragrance is suitable for a much older person" does not help much. In any case, reviewers are entitled to their opinions on a "suitable age group". "Vibe" - as the word implies, can form part of the overall impression, which is the purpose of a review. What I disagree with is the "try" "buy" or "pass" part... let's just stick with impressions and avoid tying it with a decision.

I get suspicious when the reviewer says "synthetic," given how few 100% natural fragrances are for sale. "Synthetic" doesn't give me a decent idea of what the objection actually is to the scent.

"Boring" is another descriptor that doesn't actually describe what the fragrance has to it that the reviewer doesn't like. Is it linear? Jasmin et Cigarettes is linear, but I love it, and don't find "boring" a good descriptor. Is it dominated by a particular note? Aventus with its pineapple doesn't seem "boring" to me, regardless of whether it's my preference (or my opinion on the hype it receives here). However, if either of those factors are what is objectionable to the reviewer, then those are the descriptors that would actually do me some good in forming a better opinion on the scent. "Linear" and "single-note dominant" are useful, objective terms, even if a different reviewer doesn't agree; "boring" doesn't tell me anything.

Description of the various notes and how prominent they are is helpful, as is describing sillage and longevity. Saying what a scent evokes for you is also helpful such as "Campfire" or Sea Air" or Chocolate Chip Cookies" etc since these are smells that most people are familiar with. Saying something like "the cheap smelling yuzu note that rears it's head about an hour in" is way too complex for most "normal" people to even grasp however and I think stuff like that should be avoided unless the target audience consists entirely of hard-core "frag heads". I also totally agree with those that say that using terms such as "this is just garbage" or "this sucks" is not useful at all. Now, using the term "off-putting" is a little more helpful but then again what is off-putting to one person may draw in someone else. Patchouli is an excellent example of a note that evokes both sincere adoration and also disgust. A warning perhaps such as "beware of the heavy patchouli that sets in and remains for the duration in the drydown because if you hate patchouli you won't like this" sounds much better than " the patchouli in the drydown makes me puke" I HIGHLY doubt it makes you "puke"........

Reviews fall flat, in my mind, when they simply list a great deal of notes and the fragrance's progression from start to finish. If one tries the same approach when describing a song, it becomes clear why this doesn't work. Moreover, I've read many such reviews only to read other reviews of the same fragrance with a very different, yet equally detailed, list of notes, indicating the subjectivity of the note breakdown from person to person.

The most effective reviews for me are those that use imagery to convey the overall "vibe" of the scent. For example, some have described L'Air Du Desert Marocain as a stroll through a Moroccan market, passing various spice vendors on your walk, etc. These reviews give me a much better impression of the scent.

They are sometimes 20-30 minutes long per fragrance, spending 10 minutes talking about how pretty the bottle is.....

OR they are ridiculously pretentious. One guy sometimes has his girlfriend dressed up in the background and talks like he just loves to hear the sound of his voice....and another guy often wears a suit/tie in what looks like a bedroom in his parent's basement ; littered with dirty laundry and...well.